Toddler Electrocuted

[Badger]

fair point doc but i have to say if i found my young son or daughter pluging things in and out of sockets i think id have put previsins like a isolator device high up so those sockets were never live when my son or daughter were in the room alone or maybe fix a boxing or something around the outlets, this happened in his toy room so, in my eyes what was a socket that was floor level easy accessible to young toddlers who could put things in thos socket outlets, doing at that level, surely that socket could have been protected from the youngster in the first instance, cause i darn know if i had a son or daughter id have fitted spurs for any lighting or tvs on the wall etc

 

[Doc Hudson]

In an ideal world we could all wire our homes with added safty and isolation features, but reality and cost mean some things are not always feasible. If I read the report correctly the mother & toddler were tennants in a rented property. It mentions that the mother had reported the faulty oven to the landlord and the landlord arranged for his handymanm to do the work. So in a rented property there are limitations as to what the parents could reasonably do to the wiring as it is not thier home. And as childern do tend to move around a house it could be have been any of the sockets anywhere in the property that they finally plugged the lead into. If the lead wasn't there in the first place the event would have never happend.

Doc H.

 

[Theorysparky]

if the lead on the new cooker was long enough in the first place it wouldnt have happened !!!!

 

[androiduk2002]

Gents,

Out of respect , please can we not argue about this , how would we all feel if it was our child , I personally would be horrified finding a group of people arguing about my sons death ! ! ! .

The sad fact is this young life has ended needlessly.

We can all other our own opinions but they do not matter, a young life has eneded needlessly ...................

Im all for it being brought to our attention as it will make sure we never become complaicent and are always paying attention and looking out for not only ourselves but each other and other around us.

Andy

 

[Doc Hudson]

if the lead on the new cooker was long enough in the first place it wouldnt have happened !!!!

Or if they had rented another property and the oven didn't go faulty and the child had been born three years later etc. I am sure we could spend weeks raising plenty of hypothetical other options that would have prevent the tragic situation. But one way or another a dangerous plug and socket arrangement was left on site accessible to unskilled persons. I personally would not feel confident or safe leaving such a plug and flex arrangement with exposed wires at another persons property. Others may feel it good practice, I do not.

Doc H.

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 09:59 ---------- Previous post was made at 09:44 ----------

Gents,Out of respect , please can we not argue about this , how would we all feel if it was our child , I personally would be horrified finding a group of people arguing about my sons death ! ! ! .

The sad fact is this young life has ended needlessly.

We can all other our own opinions but they do not matter, a young life has eneded needlessly ...................

Im all for it being brought to our attention as it will make sure we never become complaicent and are always paying attention and looking out for not only ourselves but each other and other around us.

Andy

I understand your feelings and this point has already been raised in this thread. It is a very clear lesson of the dangers of electricity and a very sad incident. I am of the opinion that most of the key points of this issue have been discussed so I would suggest that this thread is closed at midnight tonight (7/4/11) as I cannot see much more that can be said, there is no need for some threads to be left permanently open.

Doc H.

 

[ianmacd]

I personally would not feel confident or safe leaving such a plug and flex arrangement with exposed wires at another persons property. Others may feel it good practice, I do not.

I would hope no one here would. I have always removed fuses or plugs if they were non moulded, but think from now on I may try stamping on them too to ensure any molded plugs can no longer be inserted into a socket.

 

[a1]

I am of the opinion that most of the key points of this issue have been discussed so I would suggest that this thread is closed at midnight tonight (7/4/11) as I cannot see much more that can be said, there is no need for some threads to be left permanently open.Doc H.

Agreed.

 

[revjames]

A lot has been said and as we can all identify with such a loss, I guess its more frustrating for us as we can see how easily it could have been avoided. When my kids were little there were no RCDs etc but we made sure we put those little plastic blanks in all the sockets that were accessible to them. To my knowledge they never managed to get them out. My heart goes out to the parents and no amount of finger pointing to the handyman or them will bring this little life back.

 

[ProDave]

Another twist to this child safety issue.

Today I was working in a bungalow, occupied by an old, obviously retired lady, far too old to have children in the house. So I didn't think I needed to do anything special, and left a lot of tools in the hallway while I was working in the loft.

I had just about finished and was clearing up. I took one load of tools out, and came back for the next load. When I opened the front door there was a 2 year old girl looking inquisitively at my tools on the floor, including a pad saw and stanley knife (blade retracted thankfully).

Daughter and grand daughter had arrived, unknown to me through the back door.

You can never be too careful.

So do we now need to ask are any children likely to visit the house while I'm working here?

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

Wow lots of lively debate !. Without making any further comments I just want to say that reading the news story, starting this thread and reading the subsequent contributions to this thread has made me ever more vigilant with regard to safety when working in occupied homes. Thanks to everyone who contributed and total respect to admin if they wish to lock the thread... and of course heartfelt sympathy to the parents and family of the child involved.

 

[Badger]

i agree i think this has served its time and should be closed

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

The thought that kept coming to me today was after an incident like this,

how on earth could anyone still live in the same house?

Every time you go to put the oven on you would be reminded of that poor little lad!

I agree not much more worth saying now..

Just lets all be more vigilant in our daily work.

Actually.. One other quick thought on a similar tangent..

We often get questions on the forum about doing some alteration work..

and do I have to RCD it, add bonding, upgrade tails, take out the wire fuses etc.. etc..

Often a phrase that comes back in some of the answers is..

"Have you left the installation in a no more dangerous condition than when you started?"

Just wondering how this thought would apply here???

Don't answer.. just keep it in your own minds for your personal consideration! :|

Thats me done on this topic.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Thank you all for your contributions on this topic. Hopefully we have all learned something from reading about this tragic loss.

Doc H.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Other related information can be found here http://www.shocked.org.uk/ and here http://www.talk.electricianforum.co.uk/topic/22168-fatally-flawed/ Links added at the request of Socketman, http://www.talk.electricianforum.co.uk/user/10289-socketman/ re the following PM.

Hi Doc,

I'm contacting you about an old thread which is now locked:
http://www.talk.elec...r-electrocuted/

You may like to add a link to the end of this thread to www.shocked.org.uk which provides further information on the subject. It turns out that contrary to most people's understanding (including my own) the plug in question was a conventional rewireable type which should have been removed prior to the cable being disconnected. The HSE inspector comnpletely failed to provide that advice at the Fatal Accident Inquiry! You may also think that (in view of some of the comments in the thread) that it is worth noting that the employment of a handyman as opposed to a qulified electrician was a decision of the landlord, and the mother had no control over that. I believe that it is offensive to suggest that the mother was in any way responsible for the "accident".

There is already a link to www.shocked.org.uk at:http://www.talk.elec...fatally-flawed/ - but in case anyone is still reading the original thread it would be helpful to have it there also.

Best wishes,
David
 

Doc H.